Sam Smith Addresses Body Image Struggles With Empowering Photo

Sam Smith took to Instagram on Tuesday (February 25) to "reclaim" his body and "fight the f--k back" instead of letting his struggles with body image engulf him.

"In the past if I have ever done a photo shoot with so much as a t-shirt on, I have starved myself for weeks in advance and then picked and prodded at every picture and then normally taken the picture down," the pop star wrote alongside a shirtless photo from a coastal photo shoot. "Yesterday I decided to fight the f--k back. Reclaim my body and stop trying to change this chest and these hips and these curves that my mum and dad made and love so unconditionally."

"Some may take this as narcissistic and showing off but if you knew how much courage it took to do this and the body trauma I have experienced as a kid you wouldn’t think those things," he continued. "Thank you for helping me celebrate my body AS IT IS @ryanpfluger I have never felt safer than I did with you. I’ll always be at war with this bloody mirror but this shoot and this day was a step in the right f--king direction."

The photograph, Ryan Pfluger, also posted the image on Instagram, praising Smith for his courage. "@samsmith thank you for trusting me to facilitate photographs that empower your ownership of your body and mind," he wrote. "I honestly wish everyone relinquished themselves to the experience like you did. An experience that has brought us closer together & I look forward to creating with you through the years. All the love. Xoxo"